


The Brave and the Outcast

by Offbrand_Valk



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Forbidden Love, SO MUCH FLUFF, nothing but fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-20
Packaged: 2019-01-01 02:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12146625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Offbrand_Valk/pseuds/Offbrand_Valk
Summary: Anon on tumblr prompted me for Valaloy forbidden love, and it suddenly got way longer than i had planned





	The Brave and the Outcast

 

The sun was just setting beneath the horizon as Vala snuck out of her hut.

The sane thing would have been to wait another 20 minutes, so it would be truly dark outside. When you went to commit sacrilege it was best not to be seen.

Unfortunately, she couldn't shake the feeling that the longer she waited, the less was her chance of succeeding.

 

Vala didn't know what had come over her, just that she desperately needed to see the outcast who had saved her again.

It was common knowledge that several groups of outcasts lived somewhere in the mountains surrounding the embrace, so long as they didn't get rowdy they weren't chased off.

That wasn't a lot to go on, so she returned to the place they had met last, hoping her tracking skills could make up for her lack of information.

 

Outcasts weren't supposed to wander that close to settlements, but all-mother be praised was Vala glad this outcast had, so she hadn't ended in the belly of a ravager.

 

The grass had only barely stopped smelling like smoke, and neither hunters nor scrappers had yet come to pick the corpse.

It _should_ be easy to track her.

Should being the key word. The outcast was good at hiding her tracks, the kind of good that came with a long time spent as prey.

Was the outcast life truly that dangerous?

 

Through intuition, perseverance, and fair amount of luck, she found the outcast's trail a fair bit further up the mountain (normally she would have called it dangerously close to outcast territory, which was unfortunately the point).

A thin plume of smoke came from the mouth of a cave, and as Vala got closer she saw her savior's easily recognizable mane of red hair.

 

"Hey." Vala said, interrupting the outcast in her gazing at a fire.

The outcast glared at her, and reached for her spear.

"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you." Vala said, holding out her arms and displaying her empty hands.

The outcast cocked an eyebrow, her hand was still on her spear, but she wasn't moving to attack.

"You saved me from a ravager earlier today, I thought a thank you was in order." Vala explained, and they both relaxed their stance.

 

"You know you're not supposed to talk to me right?" From her tone Vala had no doubt how stupid the outcast felt about that rule.

"Yes, well here I am so I guess the damage is done." As much as she pretended not to care, Vala was pretty sure she could hear her mom roaring in anger somewhere in the distance.

The other girl's expression instantly morphed into a broad grin. "Too-right! You're pretty okay for a Nora."

Vala chuckled. "Thanks you're not too bad for an outcast either."

The redhead waved a piece of cured meat at her. "Are you hungry? because I was just about to have second dinner."

 

Hailing from a family of braves, Vala was used to people being a bit crude, though the outcast was on a whole different level when it came to eating habits.

"Name's Aloy by the way." The girl said, with her mouth still full of half-chewed ham.

"I'm Vala." She replied, as she reached out a hand, and tried not to be affected by the way Aloy shoveled half a peach into her mouth before she had even swallowed her ham.

 

* * *

 

 

"Hey Rost, I'm going for a moonlight walk." Aloy yelled across the cabin.

Her adoptive dad stopped getting ready for bed. "You've been doing that a lot lately Aloy."

A shiver went down Aloy's spine, had she been found out? "I guess so, the nights have uhm, the nights have been really pretty lately haven't they?" Aloy did her best impression of a casual shrug, in an attempt to sell Rost her lie.

He didn't buy it for a second. "Well when you're ready, I hope you will let me meet them." Rost said, smiling his infuriating, understanding smile.

Aloy turned around and narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rost chuckled and sat down on his bed. "Your mate Aloy, I was young once too you know."

Her cheeks reddened.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Aloy yelled and slammed the door behind her.

 

Stupid Rost, and his stupid didn't understand anything stupid ideas.

It wasn't Aloy's fault that she thought about Vala all the time!

Vala was just so nice, and had pretty hair that looked really soft, that was just begging to be touched.

Okay maybe Aloy had been skipping a bit on her duties lately, and sleeping late, so what? Winter was a long time away, and it wasn't like they lacked for food.

 

So long as he didn't learn who Vala was.

Rost would blow his sparkers if he found out she was breaking tribal law by spending her nights with a brave.

(that last part sounded less sexual in her head.)

 

She climbed over the last rock, to the cave that had become their hiding place, and all her worries disappeared in a flash.

Vala was sitting on a stub and tending to a tiny fire in the fireplace they had built at the mouth of the cave. Her face lit up as she saw Aloy approach.

"You're early." She said grinning from ear to ear.

"So are you." Aloy replied with an equally big grin.

 

Aloy half-ran the last few steps to the stub next to Talanah.

Over the last 2 weeks they had made the cave a little home away from home.

Other than the fireplace, they had brought furs for snuggling, a few strong stubs for chairs, some medicinal herbs just in case, and even a few pretty baubles to make it feel lived in.

 

They talked about everything and nothing, mixing stories from their childhood aimlessly with the events of the day, laughing so much it send every watcher on the mountain running.

 

"So uhm, fun fact: I think my dad is on to us." Aloy said when there was a lull in their conversation.

"What?!"  Vala yelled, and Aloy remembered just how much more danger Vala was in if they were found out, no way were the Nora going to just groan and roll their eyes at the warchief's daughter for breaking tribal law.

"No I mean, he doesn't _know_ about us, just that I'm seeing someone, I mean not _seeing_ someone, I'm pretty sure he thinks you're also an outcast, not that he knows what you look like. We're not _seeing_ each other are we Vala?" Aloy was choking, yet the words wouldn't stop coming.

Vala knotted her brow, and spent a long second processing what Aloy had just said. "That's good, crisis averted." She said breathing a sigh of relief.

 

Then after another long moment of Aloy hyperventilating, Vala moved her face close to Aloy's and ran a finger down her chin. "And about us seeing each other: We're not, though I would like to change that."

Next thing Aloy knew she was lying on the ground with a very concerned Vala standing over her.

"I'm okay." She groaned through the dizziness.

"What happened Aloy, one moment you were fine, next you just pass out right in front of me, did you drink enough water today?" Vala said, in what Aloy had dubbed her "mom voice".

 

Aloy smiled awkwardly to hide her embarrassment. "Yes, I must have just lost my balance."

Relief spread across Vala's face as she helped Aloy up.

"So uhm, did you hear that last part I said?" Vala rubbed the back of her neck, her courage having disappeared as fast as it came.

"Uh, uhm, I." There Aloy went forgetting how to breathe again.

In a moment of pure panic, Aloy wrapped her arms around Vala's neck, and pulled her into a kiss.

 

* * *

 

 

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Sona's mom asked in her usual neutral tone.

Vala would have sworn under her breath, if she wasn't sure her mom would hear it. She had to think of an excuse fast or she would be toast.

"To further consummate my relationship with an outcast who I have had as my mate for the last 3 months." In her 20 years of living with her mom, she had never learned how to lie to her.

Sona frowned at her, yet Vala tried not to worry, she had lived a full and satisfying life, she was ready to face her demise. She hoped Aloy would find a way to visit her grave.

"You're too old to still be sassing me." Sona grunted and walked away.

Vala fought to inconspicuously regain her breath.

 

This night had been a long time in the making, Vala didn't know what she would have done if her impatience had ruined it, though there was a good chance it would involve breaking something big and heavy.

For one there was there was the matter of emotional readiness. Aloy had made no secret of the fact that unlike Vala she didn't lack for experience as a result of her travels. That didn't mean she didn't need time to prepare, and as mature and in love as Vala was, she felt much the same.

Furthermore they had to get the timing right, Aloy's dad needed assistance for a lot of everyday things owing to a lifetime of injuries, and if Vala was seen sneaking home in the middle of the night with sweat glistening skin and ruffled hair people would talk, which was the last thing they wanted.

Not to mention that since cave floors weren't exactly made for cuddling, and newly tanned furs tended to shed like no tomorrow, they had to do a lot of sneaking and trading to avoid getting rain deer hairs in place nobody in intimate places.

 

Vala's heart rate always climbed steadily along with her over the last few rocks to the cave. Her mind had learned to associate the trip with happiness soon to come.

Sometimes she would be early, or Aloy would be late and she had to sit on her hands and wait impatiently for the time her love returned to her.

Not this time, they crossed the last rock on opposite sites in perfect synchrony.

Their eyes locked for just a moment before they both took off rushing for the cave entrance.

 

Aloy got there just a second before Vala.

As revenge Vala jumped into her waiting arms, and let Aloy swing her around, while they both giggled like kids.

When Aloy slowed down, and Vala got her feet back on the ground, she pressed a kiss against the redhead's nose, said: "I love you" and locked their lips.

Aloy hugged her closer as their tongues mapped each other's mouths for what must have been the thousandth time (not that the taste ever got worse).

Vala felt her legs growing weaker in the throes of passion and staggered.

Or so Aloy thought as she followed her deeper into the cave, their mouths never more than an inch apart.

 

But when they reached their nest of furs and blankets in the back of the cave, Vala sprung her trap.

She wrapped her right leg around the back of Aloy's knee and pulled. Using their shared momentum, she spun them around landing Aloy on her back and Vala on top of her.

"Where did you learn that?" Aloy giggled, but her eyes were full of admiration and her trademark curiosity.

"Nowhere. Honestly as we fell I was getting ready to splint your leg and bandage your skull." Vala was too giddy to feel more than a little guilty over her spur of the moment action, Aloy was definitely rubbing off on her.

"Well I'm happy to announce that to the best of my knowledge I am neither bleeding nor have anything broken." Aloy said parodying the tone braves used around Vala's mom.

"Do you want me to check you over just to be sure?" Ever since Aloy told her she would "walk off" freeze burn Vala had been skeptical of Aloy's ability to estimate the extend of her own injuries.

"Can you do it in a sexy manner?" Aloy asked, clearly she was fine.

 

* * *

 

 

The sun was just peeking out over the horizon when Vala woke up.

How she had managed to sleep that long through Aloy's snoring was a testament to the outcast's skills with her fingers.

 

The light, the colors, the sounds, even the taste of the air. Vala was overcome with the sheer serenity of it all.

Her clarity was short-lived however as Aloy woke up with a snort that sounded like a rockbreaker with an angry watcher stuck in it's nose.

 

Aloy flailed for a few moments, and Vala couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle.

Aloy puffed up her cheeks in anger at her girlfriend laughing at her, which only made her laugh harder.

Seeing no other way out, Aloy grabbed a nearby pillow, and started mercilessly whacking Vala with it.

Of course, Vala did not go down so easily (her mother had made her a fighter!), and she grabbed another pillow to counter attack.

Before long they were 2 pillows poorer, covered in feathers, and almost as sweaty as they had been when they went to bed.

 

Vala untangled herself from their nest, and grabbed their waterskin, only to find it 1/3rd full.

In the meantime, Aloy was dramatically narrating her vanquishing by a young brave with the greatest butt in the sacred lands.

The whole display was so pitiful that Vala threw the waterskin at her, instead of taking the last water for herself liked she had been planning.

Aloy took a big gulp from it, but made sure there was still some left. "I'll go fill it in a second." She said as she threw it back to Vala.

 

Vala emptied it in a mouthful, which Aloy took as her queue to get up.

The moment she threw the blankets aside she was pounced by Vala.

"No." She said, her hands pushing down on Aloy's wrist.

"No?" Aloy needed no excuse to stay in bed, and the view of a naked Vala looming over her was a definite plus, she was still curious what her girlfriend was planning.

"No, you're not going for water, we're going for round 2."

 

It could have been 20 minutes, or 3 hours before they fell apart into the sheets, exhausted and very satisfied.

Aloy once again volunteered to get water, if Vala hadn't felt like she was breathing through sand, she would have protested.

In that moment she could think of nothing than having to be separate from Aloy.

Aloy returned not 5 minutes later with 2 full waterskins, which was good, because if she had been even a little later Vala would have risked exile to go out and meet her.

 

"What do we do in the future?" Vala said, worry having manifested itself when they sated their thirst.

"Eat lots of food, have more mindblowing sex, and cuddle a whole bunch?" Aloy shrugged and said with her usual metal-devil-may-care attitude.

"I was more thinking long term though." Vala replied and smiled.

"So was I." Aloy grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come by my [tumblr](https://offbrand-valk.tumblr.com/) and yell at me


End file.
